Needle-loom.



S. KENDRICK.

NEEDLE LOOM.

APPUCATlON FILED JAN. 4,197 v LgQ., Patented Sept. 11, 1917.

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s. ENDE-IGK.

NEEDLE Loom.. APPUCAUON FILED JAN. 4, 1917-Y LSQQU, Patented Sept. 11, 1917.

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Ilflg/ENTUF-' LEJMDN NEIL-1K by L S. KENDRICK. NEEDLE Loom.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 4. 1917. Lww. Patentedsept. 11, 1917.

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NEEDLE Loom.

PPLCATlN F|LED JAN. 4| 1917. pQQ Patentedept. H, 19171.

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INVENTD f='\= SELENIUM KENDRIEK A ATTE RN S. KENDRICK.

NEEDLE LOOM.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 4|

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INVEN-[T: EDLDMDN S. KENDRICK.

NEEDLE LOOM.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN. 4, 1917.

Patented Sept. 11,1911.

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S. KENDRICK.

NEEDLE LOQM. A'PPLlcATloN FILED 1AN.4,|911.

PtentedSeptlLlQl.

ISHEETS-SHEET 1- upon a stationary support,

` SOLOMON WW1 RICK, OFREVERE, MASSACHUSETTS, SSIGNOR TO EVERLASTIK, lla? COBPOTED, 0F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A C0BEORA'JIJIONl OF MASSACHUSETTS.

NEEDLE-LOOM.

machos.

which the following` isa specification.

This invention relates to needle looms for weaving narrow elastic or non-elastic fabrics, and .has for its object to provide certain improvements upon the loom described in my application Serial No. 99,7 81, filed May 25, '1916, all as illustrated in the accompanying drawings and set forth in the following specification.

Referring to said drawingsf- Figure 1 represents a side' elevation, or end view, of a loom embodying my improvement.

Fig. 2 represents a portion of the loom in l front elevation.

Fig. 3 represents a vertical longitudinal section thereof.

Fig. 4 shows a portion of the loom in vplan view. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are plan views illustrating the different positions of the coacting instrumentalities, in placing the weft threads in the shed.

Fig. 8 -represents a vertical longitudinal section through the pivot for two of the weft-carrying needles, and shows one'of the loop-engaging pins andy its carrier.

Fig. 9 shows, partially. in 'sectiontwo of the loop-engaging pins and their carriers.

Fig. 10 shows a portion of the mechanism for actuating the loop-engaging pins.

As illustrated upon the drawings, the loom is adaptedto weave simultaneously a relatively large number of narrow fabrics, which may be either elastic or non-elastic,

as desired, there being for each .fabric a4 pair of needles simultaneously to lay in the shed formed by the warp threads, two loops of weft threads and a pair of loop-engaging pins to retain said'loops in position until the four bights of weft and beaten in by the reed on the batten.

vThe needles are actuated simultaneously in opposite directions to carry .the two lweft threads into each shed, when it is formed, and hence the selvage edges of the finished fabric are similar. Thesaid needles are pivoted at points outside the selvage warps and are actuated v Specification of Lettersatent.

Application led January 11, 1917. Serial No. 140,5341.

needles of each pair.

- their carriers,

threads are engaged' Parenteel sepa maaar.

by oppositely movable slides which receive their movement from cams located at the end of the loom. In order to save space and enable a relatively large number of fabrics or webs to be woven on a loom of any given length, I pivot the adjacent needles for each two adjacent webs upon the same axis, and in fact may use the same pivot pin for both, if desirable. Each needle consists of a lever pivoted between its ends' and having a long arm provided with eyes at its end to receive a weft thread, and a short arm provided with a'slot to receivea pin or projection on the slide by which it is actuated. The two slides are. arranged side by side and are relatively narrow, so that, if desired, they may be placed in the same ideway, each slide being utilized for movmg one of the The loop-engaging pins for each pair of wefts are pivoted upon and are guided in their movements by guides placed on the stationf ary support, being as a whole arranged belowthe plane of the finished web, where they are out of the way of the operator. As the reed moves forward, the pins are retired or withdrawn so as not to be engaged thereby. Each pair of pins is arranged'on arms secured to oi' formed on a common sleeve or hub, the several sleeves or hubs be- Y ing fastened adjustably upon a rock-shaft operated from a cam at the end of the loom.

Proceeding Vnow to a more detailed description of the loom illustrated by the drawings, the frame of the loom may be of any usual form 'or structure, beingprefer f ably provided with an arch or superstructure 10 on which may be placed means for sup porting the large spools or cops 11 of weft thread. The loom is provided with the batten 12 having-as many reeds 13- as there are .webs to be woven. The reeds are separated Vto-leave spaces lbetween them, each reed being in length a little` greater than the width of the fabric being woven.l The batten is actuated from the crank shaftv 14. Any suitfabric which need not be described.

The weft-carrying needles and the loopengaging pins are supported by the breast beam. To this end, there is secured to the inner face of the breast beam a plurality of brackets 16 having substantially the .configuration shown in Fig. 8. Secured upon the upper sides of the brackets are two stationary horizontal guide bars 17, 18, which form a guideway between them. These bars are in a plane substantially parallel with the top of the breast beam and the finished fabric passes over them as shown in Fig. 3. It is on the bar 17 that the several pairs of weft-laying needles are supported and pivoted. The two needles for each fabric are indicated at 19 and 2O respectively. The needles 19 are placed above the bar 17 and the needles 2O immediately below it. -The adjacent needles 19 and 2O of two adjacent pairs are mounted upon the same pivot 21 which passes through the bar 17. A screw 22 and washer 23 at each end of the pivot pin serve to hold the needles and the pivot pin in place. Each needle consists of a thin flat blade a which is curved to the right or the left as the case may be, and which is provided at its extremities with two eyes b b. Each blade is secured to a thicker mem-y ber c having an annular boss surrounding the aperture through which the pivot pin passes. The member c projects beyond the pivot and extends at an inclination tothe right or the left as the case maybe, being provided with a slot 0l.- The members c for the needles 20 have their ends inclining to` ward the left and are somewhat longer than the members c of the needles 1-9. For operating the needles of each pair simultaneously in opposite'directions, I employ two slide bars 24, 25. These bars are relatively thin and narrow and they lie in the space between the two guide bars 17, 18. The bar 24 is provided with upstanding pins 26 which enter the slots d of the needles 19, whereas the bar 25 has downwardly projecting pins or studs 27 which project into the slots d of the needles 20. It will be noted that the slots d of the needles are arranged angularlywith reference to the path of movement of the two bars 24 and 25, with the result that a Wedging action is exerted on the walls of the slots, thus accelerating the motion of the needles. rlhe two bars 24 and 25 are located so close to the pivots 21 for the needles that but a relatively short longitudinal movement of the bars is necessary to swing the needles through the arc necessary to cause the weft 'thread to b e laid properly in the shed. As illustrated in Fig. 4, the slide bars 24, 25 extend beyond the end frame at one end of the loom and are connected to levers 28, 29 pivoted to a bracket 30 attached to said frame.. 'lne levers 28, 29,' are provided with rolls extending into the cam grooves formed in the faces of-two cams 31, 32, secured upon a shaft 33 which extends from front to rear of the loom. This shaft 33 is journaled in suitable bearings at 34, 35, and it is provided with a bevel gear 36 intermeshing with a complemental gear 37 journaled upon a stud shaft 38 and intermeshed with and driven by a gear 39 on the crank shaft. These gears are all as one to one, so that the shaft 33 rotates once for each rotation of the crank shaft. The cam grooves are' so formed in the cams 31, 32, that the slide bars 24, 25, are automatically moved simultaneously in opposite directions.

When the batten is moved forwardly, so that the reed is in its forward limit of movement, as indicated by Fig. 7, the needles are in the position shown in said figure, being located approximately at right angles to tbc guide bars 17. When the batten has retired and the shed is formed, the needles arc moved tothe position shown in Fig. 5, carrying the weft threads through the shed and layingone bight of each close to the end of the shed. From this position the needles are again moved back into the position shown in Fig. 6, following which the batten moves forward so as to beat in the two bights oi" each of the two weft threads, all as will be vexplained more at length in a subsequent portion of the specification.

In order that the loops of weft thread which are laid in the shed may not be witbdrawn by the outward or separating movement of the needles, I employ loop-engaging pins for engaging the weft threads and holding the loops in place. For each web being woven there are two of these pins which are indicated at 350. Each pin 350 is straight, as shown by Fig. 8, and is clamped in a split block 360 ivoted. upon an arm 37 0. The two arms 370, 370, consist of rods which are threaded at the ends and which are screwed into threaded apertures in a hub 380. These hubs are all arranged upon a rock-shaft 390, and each is split and provided with a clamping screw 40 so that it may be adjusted longitudinally and rotatively relatively to the rock shaft and then secured to the desired position. As a matter of incidental construction, each arm 370 may be adjusted longitudinally of its socket and secured after adjustment by a set nut 400. The rock-shaft l390 is mounted in the brackets 16 and at one end is provided with an arm or lever 41 see Fig. 10) by which it may be rocked. The mechanism for rocking the shaft comprises a cam 42 secured upon'the afore-mentioned shaft 33, and a lever 43 having a roll 44 projecting into a cam groove formed in the face of the cam 42, said lever being pivoted upon a. stud 45 and being pivotally connected by a 4link 46 with the\ar1n 41. A guide bracket 47 secured to the breast beam holds the lever 43 against sidewisemovement. The pins 350 are arranged just outside of or adjacent to the selvage warps and they pass through 130 guides 48 secured to the bar 17. as shown in Fig. 8, the needles are below the plane of the fabric, but, when the shaft 390.

is rocked, the needles rise and pass through the loops of weft thread as shown in Figs. 5:

and 6. They remain in this positionwhen' the needles are moved out of the shed, and, as-the hatten and the reed thereon moves forwardly, theneedles are gradually withdrawn and lowered into a position out of the path of the reed. Because of their'pivotal connection with the arms or carriers 370, the operative ends of thc needles are caused to move longitudinally of the warp y threads duringthe movement-of the arms 370" about their axis, with the result that,

when the needles are in their inactive positions as shown by Fig. 8, their operative ends are in front of the forward limit of 2o movement of the reed, and yet, when the needles are projected into operative position, their operative ends move upwardly in the rear of the last weft threads which were beaten into the fabric and are in position to engage the weft threads which are laid in the shed by the needles.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided: a very simple mechanism for laying the weft threads in the shed and holding themtherein until the reed is in position to' beat them into the end of the shed. By ivoting the needles at points outside of t e selvages and having their ends curved as shown, it is necessary to move the needles through relatively short arcs, and thus I am able to employ slide vbars which have a pin and slot connection directly with the needles. The longitudinal movements of the slide bars, as previously 40 stated, are vrelatively Small.

. In Fig. 3, the warp threads, including the elastic and non-elastic threads, are indicated at e e, and they are shown as formed into a4 shed. The weft threads, of which two are shown for the sake of example, are indicated ,l

at f f, and" these are drawn from the cops 11I and passed through a guide mechanism 50, the details of which need not be explained in detail except to state that it may be formed substantially like keep the weft threads spaced apart. From the guide mechanism 50 tli'e' weft threads pass under a guide bar 51, and thenc'ebetween the reeds 13 on the hatten, and'under- 554 neath the guidebars .17 and 18 to tension devices indicated as a' whole at '52, 52.

` Thence the weft threads pass rearwardly through eyes'formed on spring ides 53, 53, and to the eyes b b in the n les. The

50 spring guides 53, 53'are each formed of, a piece of resilient wire, vsuitably coiled at the free end to constitute a guide for theV thread and suitably coiled at its other end so that it may be secured to the bar 17 by a screw t5 54. en the needles 19 and 20 move mto Normally,

and through the shed, the guides- 53 are suiiciently yielding so that they canswing toward each other as shown in Fig. 5, according to the pull upon the thread. When the needles move outwardly or oppositely 70 from each other, the spring guides 53 likewise move outwardlyxso as to take up any slack in the thread between the needles and the tension devices. Thus the spring guides 53 operate not only as guides but also as 75 take-ups for the thread. Each of the tension devices 52 may be formed in any suitable way. As shown, however, each consists of a collar 54' secured upon the'cylindrical bar 55 over which thevinished fabric passes to 80 the take-up roll. The collar 54 is provided with an arm 56 from which projects later'- ally a pin 57. 'On the pin are the two flaring tension members 58, 58, which are loosely rotatable4 thereon and whichare held one 85 against the other by a spring 59 interposed between one of the members and a thuinb nut 60 adjustable upon the threaded pin 57. By means of this construction, the length of j weft thread between the tension device and the cop is held'` relatively taut, the thread`v being drawn through the tension devices only 'as needed, by the needles, such slack as occurs being located between the needles and the tension devices and being taken up by lthe take-up guides 53.

In operation, when the batten is in its rearmost `position away from the breast beam, the weft-carrying needles are in the needles 4in this position, the loop-engaging 105 pins, which have started to move upwardly, are'carried still farther so as to enter the loops of weft threads. Then the weft-carrying needles are moved to the position shown ing stationary temporarily' and then commencing to move downwardly as the batten advances. By the time the hatten reaches the forward limit of its movement, the weftengaging pins have 'been disengaged from 115 the loops oit weft thread andthe reed yhas beaten in two' bights of each of the weft threads as shown in Fig. 7. When the loopengaging pins release the loops of weft, the. ends of the loops move slightly inwardly so as to be located inside of the exterior selvage warps so that the loops cannot be seen in the finished fabric. The loops of weft thread are' laid in eachA shed that is formed by the shedding mechanism, and 125 thus,.as there are four bights laid in each shed, .it will be seen that the production of fabric by the loom is very rapid. The parts are all constructed and arranged so far as possible to prevent lateral vibration of 4130 in Fig. 6, the loop-engaging pins remain- 110 the loom; the needles are arranged in pairs and move in opposite directions so that the thrust of one counterbalances the thrust of the other; the needle-actuating bars are likewise moved simultaneously in opposite directions so that the thrust of one counterbalances the thrust of the other; the mechanism is very simple; the cams for operating the needle-actuating bars andy for operating the loop engaging pin mechanism are mounted on the same shaft at the end of the loom; and movement of the various parts are all cordinated to secure the most desirable results. v

The location of the tension devices adjacent the needles I consider to be a desirable and advantageous feature of the invention, particularly when employed in connection with yielding take-ups for those portions of the weft threads which lie between the needles and the tension devices.

Of course it will be understood that it is quite immaterial where the cops for the weft threads are located. They may be arranged on the superstructure or arch of the loom as shown, or else they may be located beneath the loom if found desirable.

Having thus explained the nature of my said invention and described a way of making and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use, what I claim is:

1. A needle loom for simultaneously weaving a plurality of fabrics, comprising shedforming mechanism, a stationary support, a plurality oflpairs of weft-laying needles, the adjacent needles of each adjacent pair being pivoted to move about the same aXis, and means for oscillating the needles of each pair simultaneouslyr in opposite directions.

2. A needle loom for simultaneously weaving a plurality of fabrics, comprising shedforming mechanism, a stationary support, a plurality of pairs one pair for each fabric,-a plurality of pairs of weft-laying needles,-one palr forv each fabric,-the adjacent needles of each adjacent pair being pivoted to move about an axis midway between thev adjacent fabries, said needles and said pins being supported by said stationary support, and mechanisms for actuating said pins and for simultaneously moving the needles of each palr 1n opposite directions.

j 3. A needle loom comprising shed-forming mechanism, abatten, a stationary support, a pair of weft-laying needles pivoted to said support at points outside the selvage edges of the fabric being woven, mechanism fdr. simultaneously operating said needles in opposite directions to lay two wefts in each shed, means for exerting tension on said weft threads and spring take-ups located between said tension-exerting means and said needles to take up slack in said weft threads.

4. A needle loom, comprising shed-forming mechanism, a stationary support, a batten, a pair of weft-laying needles pivoted to said support, mechanism for simultaneously operating saidneedles in opposite directions to lay two wefts in each shed, tension devices on said support for the weft threads, and spring take-ups mounted on said stationary support and operatively lo-v cated between said tension devices and said needles, to take up the slack inthe weft threads.

5. A needle loom, comprising shed-forming mechanism, a pair of oppositely movable weft-laying needles, a stationary support therefor, mechanism for actuating said needles simultaneously in opposite directions, a rock-shaft, arms carried thereby, a

pair of loop-engaging pins, blocks for said pins pivoted loosely to said arms, guides for said pins attached to said support, and means-for rocking said shaft.

6. A needle loom, comprising shed-forming mechanism, a batten, a crank shaft for actuating said batten, a shaft at the end of said loom driven lby and rotating synehronously with said crank shaft, a stationary support, a plurality 0f pairs of weftlaying needles,-one pair foreach fabric being woven,-the adjacent needles of each adjacent pair being pivoted to move about axes located between the adjacent fabrics, a pair of oppositely movable' bars having pin and slot connections with the respective needles of each pair, a plurality of pairs of loop-engaging p1ns,one pair for each fabric being w0ven,a rock-shaft for actuating said pins, and cams on said second-mentioned shaft for actuating said bars simultaneously in opposite directions and for actuating said vrock-shaft.

In testimony whereof I have alixed my 

